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10/02/2017

Joule Africa, the renewable energy developer and operator, has signed, alongside Cameroon’s Minister of Water Resources and Energy, H.E. Basille Atangana Kouna and the CEO of ENEO, Joel Nana Kontchou , a Letter of Intent to take the Kpep Hydropower project in Cameroon to the next stage in its development.

As part of the agreement, Joule Africa will undertake comprehensive feasibility studies to build on the pre-feasibility study it commissioned in 2012, which highlighted the potential for creating 485MW of installed capacity.

Commenting on this announcement, Mark Green, President of Joule Africa, said:

“Kpep has the opportunity to transform the economic landscape in the North of Cameroon. It should provide up to 3000 jobs during the construction phase; create significant direct and indirect employment once operational; benefit the local communities; and go a long way towards satisfying the country’s ever-increasing demand for energy by boosting Cameroon’s current energy capacity by up to 40%.”

“It is also a significant milestone for Joule Africa as we look to develop other power projects alongside the Bumbuna II hydro project in Sierra Leone.”

The Kpep Hydropower project is the initial site to be developed as part of a cascade of five sites on the Katsina Ala River in North West Cameroon. The full feasibility studies will include topographical surveys, geotechnical investigation works, preliminary engineering design and a full internationally-compliant environmental and social impact assessment. It is estimated that the feasibility study will take two years with a further four years of construction in order to commission the plant during 2023.

23/03/2016

London and Freetown: International power project developer Joule Africa has bought out its co-developer, Endeavor Energy, giving it 100 per cent ownership of the Bumbuna II HPP.

Bumbuna II is the 202MW expansion of the 50MW Bumbuna HPP commissioned in 2009 by H.E. Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, President of Sierra Leone. The project has been in development since 2011.

Lahmeyer International has completed the feasibility study and managed a tender process to short-list Salini Impregilo S.p.A and Hydrochina-Sinohydro, as the potential EPC contractors. ERM is currently completing the Environmental and Social Impact studies in conjunction with local consultants CEMMATS.

Financial close is targeted for the second half of 2017. Equity funding will be provided by Joule Africa and its strategic equity partner, African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), with debt funding expected to come mainly from international development finance institutions.

Andrew Cavaghan, Chief Executive of Joule Africa, commented: “we and the Government of Sierra Leone have invested considerable resource to bring Bumbuna II to this stage of development. The energy sector, into which this important project will fit, is undergoing considerable development and investment, including interconnection to the West African Power Pool network. We have strong support from our shareholders and our strategic equity partner, AIIM, to develop and implement this important project.”

18/11/2013

Freetown, Sierra Leone: Endeavor Energy, a privately owned independent power development and generation company, today announced that it has entered into a joint development agreement (JDA) with international power developer Joule Africa.

As part of the agreement the two companies will work together to develop and construct the US$700 million Bumbuna Phase II Power Project, a hydroelectric power (HEP) project in Sierra Leone projected to add an additional 202 megawatts to the existing 50 megawatts at Bumbuna Phase I.

Bumbuna Phase II is the first project for Endeavor Energy, which was formed in June following an initial commitment from leading energy-focused global private equity firm Denham Capital’s $3 billion Fund VI. As part of the JDA, Endeavor Energy has agreed to fund the remaining development costs for the project and expects to invest up to 75 percent of the project’s equity at financial close (estimated $150 million USD).

“We are pleased to begin our first project after such a short period of time and to team up with our great partners Joule Africa and the Government of Sierra Leone to launch Bumbuna Phase II,” said Sean Long, CEO of Endeavor Energy. “We are also delighted by the work Joule Africa has done thus far on the project with the Government of Sierra Leone. We welcome the opportunity to help complete it in order to provide much needed low-cost power generation to the citizens of Sierra Leone.”

In addition to Bumbuna Phase II, Endeavor Energy is in discussions to acquire and develop a number of other thermal and hydro power generation opportunities throughout Africa.

“We are likely to commit to complete the development of our second project, an estimated $500 million power generation project in Sub-Saharan Africa, before the end of this year,” added Long. “We continue to see a robust market and a need for independent power generation companies like Endeavor Energy to invest both development capital and equity capital in power generation projects in Africa.”

06/03/2013

4th March 2013 saw the commissioning of a joint venture between renewable energy developer Joule Africa and child development NGO Street Child of Sierra Leone, which is set to further improve access to education in the Bumbuna area. The Bumbuna Resource Centre was officially opened by the Sierra Leonean Deputy Minister of Energy at an event attended by Members of Parliament, and local dignitaries, including the Paramount Chief of the region.

04/12/2012

29th November, Yaounde: At an event in Yaounde in the Republic of Cameroon today, Renewable energy developer Joule Africa announced details of a Project Development Agreement (PDA) with The Government of The Republic of Cameroon to develop a major new national hydroelectric project located on the Katsina Ala River in the Northwest Region of the country.

Joule Africa, an international company with offices in London, Yaounde and Freetown, will now work in partnership with the Government of The Republic of Cameroon and renowned technical hydro-engineering consultancy, Lahmeyer International, to undertake a full feasibility and bankability study.

The Pre-feasibility assessments indicated that the full cascade has the potential to achieve installed capacity of up to 850MW with a planned first stage in excess of 450MW, which at full capacity would represent an increase of more than 40% in the present installed capacity at the national level.

His Excellency Dr. Basile Atangana Kouna, the Minister of Water Resources and Energy, commented: “We are delighted with the swift progress already made by Joule Africa and this new agreement sets a strong and balanced foundation for the next phase in the project’s development. Whilst we are still in the early stages, we are confident that this new project will be capable of representing a major boost of electricity generation for the nation.”

Mark Green, Joule Africa’s President & Chief Operating Officer, added: “Joule Africa will now be embarking upon the preparation of a full feasibility study with Lahmeyer International, assessing the suitability and potential of this development. This will take approximately 12 months, after which we will start to finalise the legal and financial structure with the Government of Cameroon to enable construction to commence. Infrastructure projects such as this take many years to develop, taking into consideration the needs of all the parties who will be impacted by the development. We are committed to meeting the highest standards in our execution of this and all our projects, including maintaining a high level of transparency and open communication during the development.”

Joule Africa Ltd, has made a number of visits to the project site in the past 12 months. During those trips, the company engaged with local communities in the Furu-Awa and Fungom Sub-Divisions of Menchum Division as part of its commitment to social development in the areas in which it works. A recent needs-assessment of the project area has helped Joule Africa to identify additional social activity that the company hopes will bring added developmental benefits to the surrounding area.

22/11/2011

Firm also establishes office space and full time staff in Freetown.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone - (22 November 2011) - Joule Africa, the jointly held US/UK firm that entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Sierra Leone to develop the second phase of the Bumbuna Hydroelectric power station, announced today that it has commenced the Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) for the project.

The study, launched by the German engineering firm Lahmeyer International, in partnership with local firm CEMMATS, will undertake the following: a full environmental and social impact study of the proposed dam sites; hydrological studies; a topographical survey, including an aerial survey; geotechnical studies; and design work. The BFS launched a month ahead of schedule and will be completed by October 2012.

In addition, Joule Africa is pleased to announce it has established a permanent presence in Sierra Leone. The company has acquired office space at the Bishop Building in Freetown (20 Lamina Sankoh Street) under the direction of Patrick Olu Beckley, as Country Director. It has also hired full time Sierra Leonean staff including an Assistant Director, Office Manager, an accounts team, and two expatriate staff, a Finance Director and Legal Counsel. The company will be renting a large residential property for the expatriate staff in Freetown and shortly two more properties for engineering staff in Kabala and Makeni.

“Joule Africa gives great thanks to His Excellency Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma and the Government of Sierra Leone for support of this project,” said Andrew Cavaghan, Managing Partner of Joule Africa. “We are very pleased at the significant progress the company has made to date and we are still very much on track to deliver this project of vital national importance on time, hoping to commence construction in 2013 and achieve project completion by 2017.”

Currently Sierra Leone has one of the lowest levels of electricity in Sub Saharan Africa at under 100 MW. At the completion of Bumbuna Phase II, initial estimates put the incremental increase in power capacity at up to 339 MW, bringing the total Bumbuna power capacity to 389 MW.